There are so many ways to create unique PowerPoint presentations. The software has many tools and functions that allow you to be as creative as possible. The many possibilities include customizing templates, creating exciting shapes to enhance presentation design, and adding animations to your slides. Another thing you can do is edit pictures in PowerPoint.

PowerPoint is an excellent alternative if you don’t have Photoshop (or are overwhelmed by its complexity). You can do a lot of basic photo editing to enhance the images you’ve added to your presentation.

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Edit Pictures in PowerPoint: The Basics

To get started, familiarize yourself with the Pictures Tool Format tab.

This only appears if you have a picture selected, so go ahead and Insert the image you want to edit into a Blank Slide.

The tools you’ll probably use the most to edit pictures in PowerPoint are the following:

1. Corrections – This will allow you to edit your picture’s brightness and contrast and choose to either sharpen or soften it.
2. Color – With this option, you can change the saturation and tone of your image. You can also choose to overlay several color filters.
3. Crop – Aside from letting you do the obvious, PowerPoint’s crop tool allows you to crop your image into many different shapes.
4. The options under Picture Styles – This group allows you to customize and design your picture with a few clicks effortlessly. You can add effects or borders. Choosing Picture Layout automatically will enable you to convert your image into a SmartArt graphic.

Using these tools to edit my chosen picture, I was able to come up with this:

Adding Text to Images

Another thing you’ll probably want to do is to add text to your pictures. You can’t do this in the Format tab. You have to go back to the Insert tab and select Text Box.

Just create a TextBox anywhere you want on the picture, and then start typing like you would if you were editing slides.

To add a background color to the TextBox, just go to the Home tab and select Shape Fill. A drop-down box will appear where you can choose whatever color you want.

Saving Pictures

You can save your edited pictures separately from your slides, and you don’t need to go through the tedious process of using Print Screen, either. All you have to do is Right-Click the image and then choose Save Picture As.

To save several objects as one picture (which is what you’ll have to do if you added a text box): Select all elements you want to include, right-clic-, and then choose Group. After that, you can right-click again and save as usual.

If you’re editing the photos for your PowerPoint slides, don’t forget to keep all manipulated images manageable. Select your edited picture, go back to the Format tab, then select Compress Pictures.

Bonus: Creating Polaroids with PowerPoint

Now that you’re familiar with the Pictures Tool, here’s a quick tutorial: edit pictures in PowerPoint and turn them into “Polaroids.”

1. Crop your image into a 1:1 ratio. Set it aside for a while.
2. Draw a rectangle using the Shape tool. Make sure it’s big enough for your image to fit inside. It’ll be in the default color. Don’t change it to white yet!
3. Select the rectangle and go to the Drawing Tools Format tab. Under Shape Effects, select Shadow (Outer). When the rectangle has the drop-shadow effect, change its color to White.
4. Drag the image on top of the rectangle. If it disappears under the shape, just select the shape, hover over Send to Back, and choose Send Backward.
5. Adjust the image to create the overall look of a Polaroid picture.
6. Group the image and the rectangle and Save.

There you have it!

We hope that learning how to edit pictures in PowerPoint can help you come up with great presentation design ideas. Don’t be afraid to explore and utilize all the tools that PowerPoint has to offer.